Brain Teasers
Cleaning the House
Ever since Emily began her new job, the last thing she wants to do when she gets home is clean her apartment. She decided to make a schedule so that she would clean a different room (including the living room) each day (Monday through Friday). Last week she procrastinated by talking on the phone, so this week, Emily decided to let the answering machine handle her calls, and she received a different number of messages each day. Can you determine the which rooms she cleaned each day and the number of messages she received?
Given:
Cleaning Days -- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Number of Messages -- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Rooms Cleaned -- Bedroom, Living Room, Bathroom, Den, Kitchen
Clues:
#1) Emily received more messages on Thursday than on the day she cleaned her bedroom, but fewer than on Tuesday.
#2) Emily cleaned the bathroom on the day after receiving just one message and one day before she cleaned the den.
#3) She received more messages when she cleaned her bedroom than when she cleaned the den.
#4) Emily cleaned the kitchen on Wednesday.
Given:
Cleaning Days -- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Number of Messages -- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Rooms Cleaned -- Bedroom, Living Room, Bathroom, Den, Kitchen
Clues:
#1) Emily received more messages on Thursday than on the day she cleaned her bedroom, but fewer than on Tuesday.
#2) Emily cleaned the bathroom on the day after receiving just one message and one day before she cleaned the den.
#3) She received more messages when she cleaned her bedroom than when she cleaned the den.
#4) Emily cleaned the kitchen on Wednesday.
Hint
Hints:Make a list of one set of givens and list another set of givens that would correspond to them... i.e. (Days) -- (Messages)
Monday -- 1 2 3 4 5
Tuesday -- 1 2 3 4 5, etc.
Cross off what you know is NOT the correct answer from the clues, and when you find out a number of messages that fits a day circle it, or write it on the piece of paper in a different section to keep track. Do the same with the other correlations that can be surmised by looking at the clues:
(Days) -- (Rooms)
(Rooms) -- (Messages)
Keep in mind that for example, if you find a number of messages for a day, the other days can NOT have that amount of messages, so that gives you another answer to mark off to narrow the correct answer down.
Answer
Answers:Monday -- Bedroom -- 3
Tuesday -- Living Room -- 5
Wednesday -- Kitchen -- 1
Thursday -- Bathroom -- 4
Friday -- Den -- 2
**Clue #1: If she received more messages on Thursday than on the day she cleaned her bedroom, she could not have received 1 message on Thursday as the day she cleaned her room would have to be 0, which is not an option. She could not have received 5 messages on the day she cleaned her bedroom because Thursday would then have to be at least 6 messages which is not an option. Assume also that she did NOT clean her bedroom on Thursday or Tuesday, as they are mentioned in the same clue. Since she had fewer messages on Thursday than Tuesday, she could not have received 1 message on Tuesday for the same reasons mentioned above. Also by the same token, she could not have received 5 on Thursday because Tuesday would have to be 6.
**Clue #2: 1 message -- bathroom -- den....the order of the happenings in clue 2. therefore, she could not have cleaned the bathroom on Monday, nor the den. Also assume she did not receive 1 message on the bathroom or den cleanings. She could not have cleaned the bathroom on Friday. As that would leave no day for the den, which is the day after. She could not have received 1 message on Thursday or Friday because there would not be enough days to clean the bathroom and den.
**Clue #3: If she received more messages when she cleaned her bedroom than when she cleaned the den, she could not have received 5 messages when she cleaned the den, nor 1 message when she cleaned her bedroom.
**Clue #4: She cleaned the Kitchen on Wednesday..self explanatory.
*********Now look back using all the clues instead of 1 at a time. In Clue 1 and Clue 3. More messages when she cleaned her bedroom than the den (#3). In Clue 1, it says she got more messages on Thursday than when she cleaned her room. So she could NOT have cleaned her den on Thursday. That leaves Tuesday and Friday for the den. But remember the order given in Clue 2. The den could not have been cleaned on Tuesday. Den was on Friday, which leaves only one day for the bedroom, which is Monday. Now add in the order in Clue 2, and you know that Thursday she cleaned the bathroom, and Wednesday, when she cleaned the kitchen, she received 1 message. When you know the bathroom was cleaned on Thursday, that leaves one room and one day. The living room was cleaned on Tuesday. That leaves the messages for each day. We know that the bedroom was cleaned on Monday. You should have marked off 1 and 5 messages for the bedroom. So that means that 1 and 5 should be marked off the day the bedroom was cleaned as well. They have to match. Another that doesn't match, is that Friday the den was cleaned. We know that 1 and 5 messages were not received while the den was being cleaned, so 1 and 5 could not have been received on Friday. After marking that 5 off, there is only one day with a five left -- Tuesday. You know that she received more messages on Thursday than when she cleaned her bedroom (Monday). The highest that she could have received on Thursday is 4. So we know that 4 could not have been received on Monday. By the same token, we know that she received more messages when cleaning the bathroom (Thursday) than when cleaning the den (Friday). The highest she could have received on Thursday is 4. So we know that for Friday to be less, she could not receive 4 messages on Friday. This means she received 4 messages on Thursday when she cleaned the bathroom. Looking back at clue 2 gives you the answer for the last section. She received more messages when cleaning her bedroom than when cleaning the den. So she received 3 in the bedroom, and 2 in the den.
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